Free SEN Resources

I am composing a list of free SEN resources, I am going to use these both in my work and in my home. If you come across any that I have missed, then please let me know.


The list is quite short at the moment

Like Dylan, Leo can now use the mouse, well the left button anyway. What drove him to mouse use was of course motivation and seeing the five naughty monkeys jump on the bed.


Five Naughty Monkeys- one of the songs on the Priory Wood site- controlled by pointing device or switch

Five little Ducks- from the same site above-both of these are also good in a foundation stage context for teaching counting and simple subtraction

Catch me if you can- A simple Powerpoint activity for learning to use a pointing device- could even be a finger on the SMART Board.

Rubberface- a great game for learning the emotions - a difficult skill for those with communication difficulties



This site from Inclusive has lots of good free tools for parents and teachers to use alongside some great free games.

There is the Interactive visual timtetable - built by Bob Black an ICT and Downs expert.



The Find out Page has photostorys that can be navigated by a switch,space bar or mouse




Simple Control Systems and basic programming can be explored through Penny Penguin's ski jump

Also on this ite is a mouse skills application - Drag and Drive



Please let me know of others

2 1/2 Year Old Laptop user

Ok I hate to be a baby bore here, but I just have to share this one. I put Leo to bed every night and after a Teletubbies story he simply has to play with his Thomas the Tank engine laptop or else !

But tonight I sat and observed him for a while, to see what he was doing, with this bog standard VTech electro-toy. The market is awash with 'push button = silly sound' toys for toddlers like him, yet this toy is a little different. It has a small LCD screen and has a built in keyboard and integrated mouse. There are a bank of games on simple phonics and number, along with the chance to play games. He has been using this toy for some time and is clearly motivated by the familiar Thomas the Tank engine images and music, even though the display resembles an Etch a Sketch.

One of the games is a maze, which involves navigating Thomas around a number of obstacles. And it was watching Leo play this tonight that struck me. He was actually using the built in mouse to successfully navigate around the maze. This involved clicking as well as manipulating the mouse up,down and left and right. I guess this just proves that motivation enables and prompts the learner to acquire the skill.

He broke my mouse or was it his!

Unwanted
Originally uploaded by [D]avid [E]dward [B]rown

It is probably daft to be pleased about a broken mouse, but i am. To me I'd rather equipment gets worn out or broken through overuse rathe than gathering dust in an ICT cupboard, think of thos poor unused Roamers or the Intel digital microscope!

My mouse has broken because Dylan has been over using it with Leaps and Bounds software to develop his mouse control. In my wisdom I had limited him to a switch and or the mic, to make the blobby things sing or the monster wave. But he's been motivated by the effects on- screen and a little bit of maternal encouragment and now he has began moving and clicking the mouse naturally.

Yet another reminder to me of keeping high expectations and choosing appropraite motivating applications.